List accumulation and reminder triggering

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for list accumulation and reminder triggering. In one aspect, a method includes receiving, at a data processing apparatus, a first input comprising a plurality of terms; determining, by the data processing apparatus, that one or more of the terms in the first input specify an item that belongs to a reminder category, the reminder category being associated with a collection of items that belong to the category and for which reminders may be generated; and in response to the determination, storing data that associates a reminder type with the item specified by the one or more terms.

BACKGROUND

The advent of cloud based services, search engines, and other servicesand media has drastically expanded the utility of user devices over thelast decade. Many user devices, especially mobile devices and smartphones, now provide services and applications in addition to voice anddata access. Furthermore, with the recent advent in speech-to-textprocessing systems, many users now want fluid and intuitive userexperiences with their user devices.

Many of these application services available to users are instantiatedby use of command inputs. One such service is the setting of reminders.For example, a user may speak (or type) the input [remind me to buy milkthis evening] into a smart phone, and the smart phone, using a commandparsing application (or, alternatively, communicating with a commandparsing service) will invoke a reminder process that may solicitadditional information from the user. Such information may be a time, ifthe user desires to be reminded at a certain time, or a location, if theuser desires to be reminded when the user arrives at the location.

While the setting of such reminders is very useful is a relatively fluiduser experience, the users must specify a time or location, and in thecase of the latter, the user may be required to search for a particularlocation, such as the address of a grocery store.

SUMMARY

This specification relates to list accumulation and reminder triggeringfor user devices.

In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis specification can be embodied in methods that include the actionsof receiving, at a data processing apparatus, a first input comprising aplurality of terms; determining, by the data processing apparatus, thatone or more of the terms in the first input specify an item that belongsto a reminder category, the reminder category being associated with acollection of items that belong to the category and for which remindersmay be generated; and in response to the determination, storing datathat associates a reminder type with the item specified by the one ormore terms. Other embodiments of this aspect include correspondingsystems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform theactions of the methods, encoded on computer storage devices.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter described in thisspecification can be implemented so as to realize one or more of thefollowing advantages. Implementations of the subject matter describedbelow allows for a very fluid and intuitive user experience whencreating reminders. The identification of an item that belongs to aparticular category, such as a grocery item that belongs to a grocerycategory, or a movie item that belongs to a movie category, allows forthe selection of reminder types particular to the correspondingcategory. In many situations this frees the user from having to specifya particular time or search for a particular location for a remindertrigger. Instead, reminder triggers may be automatically selected basedon the item and category, or, alternatively, may be provide to the userfor confirmation. This reduces the time and effort required by the userto set a reminder, and can, in some implementations, accomplish thesetting of a reminder, or creating a list items subject to the reminder,by the utterance of only a short sentence.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an environment in which command inputs areprocessed for list accumulation and reminder triggering.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram of an example process for generating atriggered reminder list.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram of another example process for generating atriggered reminder list.

FIG. 3A is an illustration of a user interface at a user device in whicha reminder for an item belonging to a first category is presented forconfirmation.

FIG. 3B is an illustration of a user interface at a user device in whicha reminder for an item belonging to a second category is presented forconfirmation.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram an example process for selecting a reminderlist.

FIG. 5A is an illustration of a user interface at a user device in whicha reminder list for item belonging to a first category is presented.

FIG. 5B is an illustration of a user interface at a user device in whicha reminder list for item belonging to a second category is presented.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example process for presenting a list ofitems in response to the triggering of a reminder event.

FIG. 7A is an illustration of a user interface at a user device in whicha list of items in response to the triggering of a reminder event for afirst reminder type is displayed.

FIG. 7B is an illustration of a user interface at a user device in whicha list of items in response to the triggering of a reminder event for asecond reminder type is displayed.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example mobile computing device.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A reminder processing system facilitates the automatic generation of alist of items and actions that are subject to reminders of particularreminder types. In operation, the reminder processing system receives aninput set of terms. The terms are parsed and compared to a set ofreminder category data, such as category dictionaries. When the inputincludes terms that specify an item that belongs to a reminder category,the systems stores data that associates a reminder type with the itemspecified by the one or more terms. The reminder type specifies atriggering event, and may vary on the item and category. For example,grocery items that belong to a grocery category may have a “when” typereminder that specifies a time for a reminder, or a “where” typereminder that specifies a grocery store or a set of grocery stores.Conversely, a movie item, such as a movie title, may have “release” typereminders that each specifies a different release date.

To illustrate, a user may utter [buy green beans, bread, and milk], andin response a reminder may be set to trigger a reminder list for greenbeans, bread and milk when the user enters any grocery store (or aparticular store that can be specified at the option of the user).Likewise, a user may utter [go see Godzilla], and in response a remindermay be set to trigger a reminder to go see the movie Godzilla on the dayof its theatrical release (or some other release, such as an on-demandor streaming release after a theatrical release).

Reminders may also be subject to complex triggering. For example, a usermay state [Call my wife only if I go to the Fresh Grocery Store], wherethe “Fresh Grocery Store” is a particular grocery store. Thus, when usergoes to a grocery store and a grocery item reminder list is triggered,the reminder list will also include a reminder for the user to call hiswife only if the grocery store is the Fresh Grocery Store. Likewise, auser may utter [Watch Daily Report only if home], and a reminder towatch the program Daily Report will trigger when the program begins andonly if the user is home.

The reminder processing system can be implemented in the user device, orin a computer system separate from user device, such as a server system.In the case of the latter the server system receives input from the userdevice and sends data to the user device for processing and settingreminders. These features and additional features are described in moredetail below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an environment 100 in which in whichcommand inputs are processed for list accumulation and remindertriggering. A computer network 102, such as the Internet, or acombination thereof, provides for data communication between electronicdevices and systems. The computer network 102 may also include, or be indata communication with, one or more wireless networks 103 by means ofone or more gateways.

User device 106 is an electronic device that is under the control of auser and are capable of requesting and receiving resources over thenetwork 102, establishing communication channels, e.g., voicecommunications, with other user devices, and also capable of performingother actions. Example user devices 106 include personal computers,mobile communication devices, and other devices that can send andreceive data over the network 102. In the example of FIG. 1, the userdevice 106 is a smart phone. An example smart phone is described withreference to FIG. 8 below. The user device 106 may communicate over thenetworks 102 and 103 by means of wired and wireless connections with thenetworks 102 and 103.

As described with reference to FIG. 8, a user device may be able toperform a set of device actions for various programs and capabilities.In some implementations, the user device 106 utilizes a voicerecognition system that receives voice input, performs languagerecognition processing, and parses the resulting recognized words andphrases. The parsed words and phrases are then processed to determinewhether the voice input invokes a particular action or command. A voicerecognition and language processing system is not necessary, however, asthe devices can also receive textual command inputs as well.

The user device 106 is associated with a user account, such as anaccount hosted by a cloud service provider 112 that provides multipleservices. These services may include web mail, social networking,messaging, documents storage and editing, etc. The account data 114 maystore data specific to the account of the user device 106.

A command processing system 120 receives command inputs from userdevices and processes the command inputs to determine which, if any,actions are to be taken in response to a command input. While thecommand processing system 120 is shown as a separate entity in FIG. 1,the command processing system 120 can be implemented in the cloudservice provider 112, or even in the user device 106.

Inputs may invoke various actions, as determined by the commandprocessing system 120. For example, an input may be interpreted as asearch query command, in which case a search query is sent to a searchservice. Likewise, an input may be interpreted as a command to place aphone call, in which case the user device 106 attempts to establish avoice communication over the network 103. Likewise, an input may beinterpreted as a reminder, in which case reminder item may be generated.The generation of reminder items and the processing of such items aredescribed in more detail below.

In some implementations, each input is processed by an input parser 122,which is programmed to parse the input terms and determine what actions,if any should be taken. In some implementations, the input parser 122may access language models to determine which commands or actions totake. Such language models may be statistically based, e.g., models mayinclude weights assigned to particular words and phrases that aredetermined to be semantically relevant to a particular command, orrule-based, e.g., grammars that describe sentence structures forparticular commands. A variety of other language and text inputprocessing systems may be used.

As described above, a user may input a command on the user device 106,and the command processing system 120 processes the command input todetermine whether the command input resolves to a user device actionthat the user device is configured to perform. For the remainder of thisdocument, the example inputs that are processed will resolve toreminder-based inputs. Accordingly, descriptions of other commandprocessing features for other command input types are omitted.

In some implementations, the command processing system 120 includes areminder processor 124 that communicates with the input parser 122. Thereminder processor 124 also accesses reminder category data 126 andreminder list data 128. The reminder category data 126, in someimplementations, may be a collection of category dictionaries. Eachdictionary corresponds to a particular category and is associated with acollection of items that belong to the category and for which remindersmay be generated. For example, a “Grocery” category may be associatedwith a list of grocery and food items; a “Movie” category may beassociated with a list of movies, actors, and the like; and so on. Avariety of different categories and items belonging to the categoriesmay be stored in the category data 126. For simplicity, only twocategory examples—Groceries and Movies—are used to provide a contextualexample of system features.

Each reminder category and item may also be associated with acorresponding set of reminder types. A reminder type is a type ofreminder that triggers according to a particular event specific to thattype. For example, a “where” type reminder is a reminder that triggerswhen the user device is at a location specified by the reminder; a“time” type reminder is a reminder that triggers when the time specifiedby the reminder occurs. In general, a reminder type is dependent on thetype of event that triggers it. For movies, for example, reminder typesmay be based on particular release types, such as a release date for atheatrical release, another release date for an on-demand release, andso on.

Reminder types can be one-time or recurring. A one-time event occursonly once and will not occur again unless reset by the user. Forexample, a particular time event—such as a theatrical release—may onlyoccur on the date of the release. Likewise, a particular locationevent—such as a when arriving at a store—may only occur when the userfirst arrives at the store, and will not occur should the user revisitthe store. A recurring event, however, may occur periodically or eachtime an action happens. For example, a particular time event—such as theweekly air time of a series—may occur each time an episode of a seriesairs. Likewise, a particular location event—such as a when arriving at astore—may be specified by the user as recurring so that each time theuser arrives at the store, a corresponding reminder is triggered.

Because some reminders are specific to items and categories, somereminders that are associated with particular items and categories arenot associated with other items or other categories. For example, theGrocery category items are not associated with a “Theatrical ReleaseDate” time type reminder. Likewise, movie items are not associated witha “When at Grocery Store” location type reminder.

The reminder list data 128 stores an association of reminder types withitems. In the case of the server side processing, the reminder list data128 may store associations for multiple users; conversely, in the caseof user device side processing, the reminder list data 128 may storeassociations for only the user of the user device 106. For example, thephantom reminder list data 128 connected to the user device 106indicates the user device has multiple reminder lists RLm, each of whichincludes a number of reminders {R1 m . . . Rmx}. The reminder processor128 updates and maintains the list data 128, and generates reminders forthe user device 106 when an event corresponding to one of reminder typesoccurs.

Operation of the reminder processor is described with reference to FIGS.2A, 2B, 4 and 6 below. In particular, FIG. 2A is a flow diagram of anexample process 200 for generating a triggered reminder list. Theprocess 200 can be implemented in a computer device in which thereminder processor 120 is running. In some implementations, the reminderprocessor 120 can be implemented in the user device 106; in otherimplementations, the reminder processor 120 can be running on a serverin data communication with the user device 106. For example, the cloudservice provider 112 may run the reminder processor 120 on a server inthe cloud that communicates with the user device 106 over the networks102 and/or 103, and which receives queries from the user device andprovides data in response. Processes 220, 400 and 600, described below,can also be implemented in user devices or server-side devices.

The process 200 receives a first input (202). For example, the inputparser 122 receives an input having one or more terms.

The process 200 determines whether one or more terms of the first inputspecify an item that belongs to a reminder category (204). For example,the parser 122 parses the terms of the input to generate parsed terms,and compares the parsed terms to reminder category dictionaries. Eachreminder category dictionary corresponds to a reminder categorydifferent from each other reminder category and stores terms describingitems that belong to the category. If terms of the input match termsthat describe an item in one of the reminder category dictionaries, thenthe reminder category to which the dictionary corresponds is selected.For example, for the input [buy green beans], the terms [green beans]match a grocery item.

In some implementations, the input may be further processed, e.g., bythe use of language models, grammars, etc., to determine whether theinput relates to a reminder or some other action. For example, grammarsmay be mapped to particular actions. A grammar that parses to [vitaminsin green beans], e.g., S→Vitamins in <Grocery Item non-terminal> may mapto a search query input action for which the input is submitted to asearch engine as input. Conversely, a grammar that parses to [buy greenbeans], e.g., S→<Purchase non-terminal> <Grocery Item non-terminal> maymap to a reminder action for the Grocery category.

Other language models can also be used. For example, semantic analysisof the input may be used to score various actions, and the action withthe highest score may be selected.

If the process 200 does not determine that one or more terms of thefirst input specify an item that belongs to a reminder category, thenthe process 200 does not process the input as a reminder (206). Theinput, however, may be processed according to an operation or action,e.g., as a search query input, as a command to place a phone call, etc.

Conversely, if the process 200 does determine that one or more terms ofthe first input specify an item that belongs to a reminder category,then the process 200 stores data that associates a reminder type withthe item specified by the one or more terms (208). For example, theinput parser 122 may invoke the reminder processor 124, which accessesthe reminder dictionaries in the reminder category data 126. Dependingon the reminder category and the item, a reminder type for the item maybe associated with the item and stored in the reminder list data 128.

The storage may occur automatically according to default parameters, ormay be subject to user conformation. In the case of the former, forexample, a default reminder type may be selected based on the item andcategory. For example, for a grocery item, the default reminder type maybe a “where” type that triggers when the user enters any grocery store.Conversely, for a movie item, the default reminder type may be a “time”type, and may further be a sub-type that triggers on the theatricalrelease date (or the next upcoming media release date if the theatricalrelease date has passed).

The reminder processor 124 may implement more complex automaticselection logic of reminder types. For example, a reminder type may beselected based on an event that is most likely to occur or most near intime. For example, suppose the input is [see Godzilla], and that thetheatrical release date for the movie Godzilla has passed. If the movie,however, is still in many theaters, then a where type reminder for anytheater location in which the movie is playing may be associated withthe movie item. Conversely, if the movie is out of theaters, but a mediarelease is scheduled, e.g., Blu-Ray, then a time type reminder for theBlu-Ray release may be scheduled. By way of another example, if themovie has been released and is still in many theaters, then a where typereminder and a time type reminder may be associated with the item. Thewhere type reminder may be for any theater location in which the movieis playing, and the time type reminder may be for a Friday evening at6:00 to remind the user just as a weekend begins.

In the case of user confirmation, a user interface dialog may bepresented to the user for confirmation and selection of reminder types.FIG. 2B is a flow diagram of another example process 220 for generatinga triggered reminder list. The process 220 is subject to userconfirmation, and is also described in the context of FIGS. 3A and 3B.In particular, FIG. 3A is an illustration of a user interface 302 at auser device 300 in which a reminder for an item belonging to a firstcategory of Groceries is presented for confirmation, and FIG. 3B is anillustration of a user interface 332 at a user device 330 in which areminder for an item belonging to a second category of Movies ispresented for confirmation.

Process steps 222, 224 and 226 are similar to process steps 202, 204 and206 described above. Thus, the description of FIG. 2B begins at processstep 228, in which the reminder processor 124 select one or morereminder types based on the item specified by the one or more terms ofthe input, and then provides data that causes a user device to present alist of one or more reminder options (230).

For example, in FIG. 3A, for the input 306 [buy green beans] shown inthe input field 304, a “where” type reminder 310 is automaticallyselected by the reminder processor 124 and presented to the user. Thedefault location is “Grocery Stores—All Locations” as indicated in themenu item 312. This where type will trigger a reminder to “buy greenbeans” when the user device enters any grocery store. The determinationof the location of the user device can be done, for example, by GPScoordinates or any other appropriate process. The location can then becompared to various grocery store locations.

The user may also select a particular store location, as indicated bythe phantom list 314. For example, a user may have a particular store inmind for particular non-staple items; conversely, for staple items, theuser may not care which grocery store he or she frequents. If aparticular location is selected, then the reminder will only triggerwhen the user is at that location.

The user may alternatively select a different reminder type, such as thewhen type 308. Additional inputs may be required after selection of thewhen type 308, such as a user specified time.

In another, in FIG. 3B, for the input 306 [See Godzilla] shown in theinput field 334, a “when” type reminder 338 is automatically selected bythe reminder processor 124 and presented to the user. The defaultreminder is “All Release Dates” as indicated in the menu item 342. Thistime type will trigger a reminder at the occurrence of each releasedate, or until the user clears the reminder. The determination ofrelease dates can be made by resolving the movie item, e.g., the movieGodzilla to an entry in a database of movie information provided by athird party.

The user may also select a release date, as indicated by the phantomlist 344. For example, a user may desire to see the movie only after itis released in an “On Demand” format, and the user will be reminded whenthat release date occurs.

The user may alternatively select a different reminder type, such as thewhere type 340. Additional inputs may be required after selection of thewhere type 340, such as locations of specific theaters.

In some implementations, the reminder processor 124 may accesses data indictionary describing eligible reminder types and ineligible remindertypes. An eligible reminder type is a reminder type for which an eventmay still occur; conversely, an ineligible reminder type is a remindertype for which an event has occurred and will not occur again, or forwhich an event cannot occur. For example, for a movie item for which atheatrical release has already occurred, or for which there will be notheatrical release, the reminder type for “Theatrical Release” will bedetermined to be ineligible. The reminder processor 124 then selectsonly eligible reminder types for presentation.

The process 220 determines whether a reminder option is selected (232).The user may not always select a reminder option. For example, a user'sinput may not be well formed, and thus falsely trigger a reminder, orthe user may decide to not store a reminder. If the reminder option isnot selected, then the input is not processed as a reminder (226).Conversely, if a reminder option is selected, then the process 220stores data that associates the reminder type corresponding to theselected reminder option with the item specified by the one or moreterms (234). A reminder of a particular type for a particular categoryitem is then set for the user device 106.

As a user generates reminders for items, the items and reminders may becollected according to the categories and presented in the form ofreminder lists. For example, a user may input a command that, whenparsed, resolves to an action to display a particular item list andcorresponding reminders. FIG. 4 is a flow diagram an example process 400for selecting a reminder list. The process 400 is described withreference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. In particular, FIG. 5A is an illustrationof a user interface 502 at a user device 500 in which a reminder listfor item belonging to a first category of groceries is presented, andFIG. 5B is an illustration of a user interface 532 at a user device 530in which a reminder list for item belonging to a second category ofmovies is presented.

The process 400 receives a second input (402). For example, the inputparser 122 receives an input having one or more terms.

The process 400 determines whether one or more terms specify an actionto process an item list that belong to a reminder category (404). Forexample, the parser 122 parses the terms of the input to generate parsedterms, and processes the terms to determine whether the input specifiesan action to process an item list that belongs to the reminder category.For example, the parsed terms may be processed using grammars orlanguage models to determine whether the input invokes a display action.For example, the inputs [show me my grocery reminders] and [list mymovies] of FIGS. 5A and 5B, respectively, may be parsed and the reminderprocessor 124 may determine that the input respectively invoke actionsto display an item list for grocery reminders and an item list for moviereminders, respectively.

If the process 400 determines that the input does not specify an actionto process an item list that belongs to a reminder category, then theinput is not processed as an item list request (406). The input,however, may be processed according to an operation or action, e.g., asa search query input, as a command to place a phone call, etc.

Conversely, if the process 400 determines that the input does specify anaction to process an item list that belongs to a reminder category, thenan item list is selected (408) and data that causes a user device topresent the item list is provided (410). For example, as shown in FIG.5A, the input 506 [show me my grocery reminders] results in data beingprovided to the user device, e.g., generated by the user device 106 ifthe process 400 is implemented in the user device, or sent by a serveris the process 400 is implemented by a service provide 112, that causesthe user device to display the grocery item list 508. In someimplementations, when an item list has different reminder type for theitems, the items may be grouped according to the reminder types, asshown by item list groupings 510, 512, and 514. Other appropriate waysof presenting the item list can also be used.

In the first grouping 510, the reminders will be provided for the itemswhen a user enters any grocery store. In the second grouping 512, thereminder for the item will only be provided when the user enters thegrocery store “Pop's.” In the third grouping 514, the reminder for theitem will only be provided when the user enters the grocery store“Mom's.”

By way of another example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the input 5e6 [list mymovies] results in data being provided to the user device that causesthe user device to display the movie item list 538. Again, the items maybe grouped according to the reminder types, as shown by item listgroupings 540, 542, and 544. In the first grouping 540, the item has twodifferent reminders—theatrical release and Blu-Ray release, and reminderwill be provided for the item for each release. In the second grouping542, the reminder for the item will only be provided for the Blu-Rayrelease. In the third grouping 544, the reminder for the item will onlybe provided for the on-demand release.

Again, other appropriate ways of presenting the item list can also beused. For example, a user may provide the input [show me my theatricalrelease movies]. The reminder processor 124, by applying appropriatelanguage models or grammars, will determine that the parsed terms of thesecond input specify a first reminder type—“theatrical release”—inaddition to a category and/or item. In response, the reminder processor124 will provide data that causes the user device to present the itemlist where each of the items in the list is associated with the firstreminder type. In this example, only the movie items Godzilla and Mothrawould be displayed.

Various other reminder type logic can also be processed. For example, auser may input [list all my groceries but Pop's]. Using semanticlanguage models, the reminder processor 124 would determine that groceryreminders for the where reminder set to “Pop's” would not be shown.Accordingly, only the groupings 510 and 514 of FIG. 5A would be shown.

By way of another example, a list of items having related triggers canalso be shown. The list can be generated from items from differentcategories, but where the items have a common reminder type specified byan input. For example, a user may input [Show me what I need to dotomorrow]. The term “tomorrow” is parsed to a specific date, andreminders of a “when” type that occur on that date are then shown, e.g.,a grocery list, a movie, and laundry reminder may be shown. Likewise, auser may input [What do I need to do while I am in San Francisco]. Inresponse, an item list that lists reminders for items associated with a“where” type reminder having a location of “San Francisco” is shown.

For each item in the reminder list, the reminder processor 124determines whether an event that satisfies the reminder type for thatitem has occurred. Upon the occurrence of such an event, the reminderfor that item is shown. FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example process600 for presenting a list of items in response to the triggering of areminder event. The process 600 is described in the context of FIGS. 7Aand 7B. In particular, FIG. 7A is an illustration of a user interface702 at a user device 700 in which a list of items in response to thetriggering of a reminder event for a first reminder type—being at thelocation of a particular grocery store—is displayed. Likewise, FIG. 7Bis an illustration of a user interface 732 at a user device 730 in whicha list of items in response to the triggering of a reminder event for asecond reminder type—a theatrical release date—is displayed.

The process 600 determines that an event that triggers the reminder typehas occurred (602). For example, the reminder processor 124, for eachevent type, collects data related to the event type, such as a currentlocation, a current time or date, etc., and determines if any of theevents for a reminder type has occurred.

When an event for a reminder type has occurred, the process 600 providesdata that causes the user device to present items corresponding to thereminder type for which the event occurred (604). For example, withreference to FIG. 7A, the user has entered “Mom's” grocery store.Accordingly, reminders for the items listed in FIG. 5A, the eventsatisfies the reminders in groups 510 and 514. Thus the list ofreminders 704, which corresponds to the reminders in groups 510 and 514,is shown.

Likewise, with reference to FIG. 7B, the theatrical release date for themovie Godzilla has occurred. Accordingly, a reminder 734 for the movieGodzilla is shown. In some implementations, additional informationpertinent to the reminder may be provided. For example, a list oftheaters in which the movie is playing may be shown by selecting thelink 736.

In addition to “when” and “where” type reminders, other reminder typescan also be implemented. For example, as described above, reminders maybe “one time” or “recurring” type reminders. Reminders may also be“deadline” type reminders that monitor for the fulfillment of a listitem and only reminder the user if the list item is not fulfilled by thedeadline time. In a variation of these implementations, deadlinereminders may periodically remind the user prior to the deadline, suchas a daily reminder for an item on a list, along with a number of daysuntil the deadline.

Reminders may also be behavioral type reminders. For example, a remindermay be of the “On the way to . . . ” type reminder, and will triggerwhen a user is on the way to a “where” location. For example, a user mayrequest directions to a movie theater, and when the directions areprovided a list of movie reminders may also be provided.

Reminders may also be combined, such as by Boolean operators, e.g.,“When” AND “Where,” “When” OR “Where,” etc.

Reminders may also be clustered according to their respectivecategories. For examples, reminders related to the categories ofgroceries and hardware may be grouped into an “errand” type category, asusers usually consider shopping at grocery stores and hardware stores asnecessities. Conversely, reminders related to the categories of movies,televisions, sporting events, etc., may be grouped into an“entertainment” type category, as such events are typically consideredentertainment. A user may thus utter “Show me the errands I need to dotoday,” and the reminder processor 124 will cause the user device topresent reminders for categories that belong to the particular categorycluster.

In some implementations, reminders may be qualitative events instead ofquantifiable events. For example, a user may utter [do laundry when Ihave free time]. The reminder processor 124 may again use languagemodels to determine a constraint from the terms “when I have free time.”The constraint may then be expressed according to one or more predefinedcriteria for the constraint type. For example, for the constraint “FreeTime,” the criteria may be 1) outside of normal working hours; 2) whenhome; and 3) not within one hour of any other appointment on a usercalendar. When these criteria are met, the reminder to “do laundry” willbe generated.

In some implementations, reminders items may be linked to other items ona reminder list. For example, a user may utter [call my wife whengrocery shopping]. The reminder processor will then add a reminder—Callwife—to the grocery item list with a corresponding “where” type of “AtGrocery Store” even though the item “Call wife” is not a grocery item.Thus, when the reminder type of “At Grocery Store” is satisfied, areminder to “Call wife” will also be shown.

In some implementations, reminder lists may be shared among users. Forexample, two people may share a grocery item list, and as each personadds items to the list during the week the list is updated for eachperson. Thus, when an event occurs that satisfies the reminders on thelist, the list is shown on the user device. In variations of theseimplementations, a notification that the reminder was triggered may beprovided to other users sharing the list. For example, a husband mayreceive a notification “Your wife is now shopping at Mom's GroceryStore, and she has been reminded to purchase the following items on thegrocery list,” along with the list of items for which the reminder wastriggered.

Although the example reminder types for “Grocery” and “Movies”categories have been described, other reminder types for othercategories can be used. For example, for a television type reminder,reminder types can be a “When” type, subject to a “Lead Time”, e.g., onehour before a program begins, and a “Repeat” type, subject to the airingof each episode. For reminders related to syndicated programs, thereminders may also be of a “Channel” type, subject to a station on whichthe syndicated program airs.

Reminders for other subject matter areas, such as Books, Music, Work,Professional Organizations, etc. can also be used.

While the example lists described above are generated in response to auser input, lists and reminders may also be generated based on observeduser behavior. For example, a user history of reminder creation andcompletion can be used to determine the correct reminder item and thecorresponding trigger as a suggested reminder. Other information, suchas a user location, whether a user deletes a reminder before thereminder is triggered, etc., may also be used to determine reminders tosuggest to the user or to automatically set for the user. For example, auser may infrequently enter a particular reminder, e.g., “Go to gym,”but then clear the reminder before the reminder is triggered. Becausethe observed behavior is that that user may not consider the particularreminder important, the system learns that the reminder should not beautomatically set for the user, or even suggested to the user.

In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personalinformation about users, or may make use of personal information, theusers may be provided with an opportunity to control whether programs orfeatures collect user information (e.g., information about a user'ssocial network, social actions or activities, profession, a user'spreferences, or a user's current location), or to control whether and/orhow to receive content from the content server that may be more relevantto the user. In addition, certain data may be treated in one or moreways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiableinformation is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated sothat no personally identifiable information can be determined for theuser, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where locationinformation is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level),so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, theuser may have control over how information is collected about the userand used by a content server.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of example mobile computing device. In thisillustration, the mobile computing device 810 is depicted as a handheldmobile telephone (e.g., a smartphone, or an application telephone) thatincludes a touchscreen display device 812 for presenting content to auser of the mobile computing device 810 and receiving touch-based userinputs. Other visual, tactile, and auditory output components may alsobe provided (e.g., LED lights, a vibrating mechanism for tactile output,or a speaker for providing tonal, voice-generated, or recorded output),as may various different input components.

Example visual output mechanism in the form of display device 812 maytake the form of a display with resistive or capacitive touchcapabilities. The display device may be for displaying video, graphics,images, and text, and for coordinating user touch input locations withthe location of displayed information so that the device 810 canassociate user contact at a location of a displayed item with the item.The mobile computing device 810 may also take alternative forms,including as a laptop computer, a tablet or slate computer, a personaldigital assistant, an embedded system (e.g., a car navigation system), adesktop personal computer, or a computerized workstation.

The mobile computing device 810 may be able to determine a position ofphysical contact with the touchscreen display device 812 (e.g., aposition of contact by a finger or a stylus). Using the touchscreen 812,various “virtual” input mechanisms may be produced, where a userinteracts with a graphical user interface element depicted on thetouchscreen 512 by contacting the graphical user interface element. Anexample of a “virtual” input mechanism is a “software keyboard,” where akeyboard is displayed on the touchscreen and a user selects keys bypressing a region of the touchscreen 812 that corresponds to each key.

The mobile computing device 810 may include mechanical or touchsensitive buttons 818 a-d. Additionally, the mobile computing device mayinclude buttons for adjusting volume output by the one or more speakers820, and a button for turning the mobile computing device on or off. Amicrophone 822 allows the mobile computing device 810 to convert audiblesounds into an electrical signal that may be digitally encoded andstored in computer-readable memory, or transmitted to another computingdevice. The mobile computing device 810 may also include a digitalcompass, an accelerometer, proximity sensors, and ambient light sensors.

An operating system may provide an interface between the mobilecomputing device's hardware (e.g., the input/output mechanisms and aprocessor executing instructions retrieved from computer-readablemedium) and software. The operating system may provide a platform forthe execution of application programs that facilitate interactionbetween the computing device and a user.

The mobile computing device 810 may present a graphical user interfacewith the touchscreen 812. A graphical user interface is a collection ofone or more graphical interface elements and may be static (e.g., thedisplay appears to remain the same over a period of time), or may bedynamic (e.g., the graphical user interface includes graphical interfaceelements that animate without user input).

A graphical interface element may be text, lines, shapes, images, orcombinations thereof. For example, a graphical interface element may bean icon that is displayed on the desktop and the icon's associated text.In some examples, a graphical interface element is selectable withuser-input. For example, a user may select a graphical interface elementby pressing a region of the touchscreen that corresponds to a display ofthe graphical interface element. In some examples, the user maymanipulate a trackball to highlight a single graphical interface elementas having focus. User-selection of a graphical interface element mayinvoke a pre-defined action by the mobile computing device.User-selection of the button may invoke the pre-defined action.

The mobile computing device 810 may include other applications,computing sub-systems, and hardware. A voice recognition service 872 mayreceive voice communication data received by the mobile computingdevice's microphone 822, and translate the voice communication intocorresponding textual data or perform voice recognition. The processedvoice data can be input to the command models stored in the commandmodels data 122 to determine whether the voice input used to generatethe voice data invokes a particular action for a particular applicationas described above. One or more of the applications, services and unitsbelow may have corresponding actions invoked by such voice commands.

A call handling unit may receive an indication of an incoming telephonecall and provide a user the capability to answer the incoming telephonecall. A media player may allow a user to listen to music or play moviesthat are stored in local memory of the mobile computing device 810. Themobile device 810 may include a digital camera sensor, and correspondingimage and video capture and editing software. An internet browser mayenable the user to view content from a web page by typing in anaddresses corresponding to the web page or selecting a link to the webpage.

A service provider that operates the network of base stations mayconnect the mobile computing device 810 to the network 850 to enablecommunication between the mobile computing device 810 and othercomputing systems that provide services 860. Although the services 860may be provided over different networks (e.g., the service provider'sinternal network, the Public Switched Telephone Network, and theInternet), network 850 is illustrated as a single network. The serviceprovider may operate a server system 852 that routes information packetsand voice data between the mobile computing device 810 and computingsystems associated with the services 860.

The network 850 may connect the mobile computing device 810 to thePublic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 862 in order to establish voiceor fax communication between the mobile computing device 810 and anothercomputing device. For example, the service provider server system 852may receive an indication from the PSTN 862 of an incoming call for themobile computing device 810. Conversely, the mobile computing device 810may send a communication to the service provider server system 852initiating a telephone call using a telephone number that is associatedwith a device accessible through the PSTN 862.

The network 850 may connect the mobile computing device 810 with a Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) service 864 that routes voicecommunications over an IP network, as opposed to the PSTN. For example,a user of the mobile computing device 810 may invoke a VoIP applicationand initiate a call using the program. The service provider serversystem 852 may forward voice data from the call to a VoIP service, whichmay route the call over the internet to a corresponding computingdevice, potentially using the PSTN for a final leg of the connection.

An application store 866 may provide a user of the mobile computingdevice 810 the ability to browse a list of remotely stored applicationprograms that the user may download over the network 850 and install onthe mobile computing device 810. The application store 866 may serve asa repository of applications developed by third-party applicationdevelopers. An application program that is installed on the mobilecomputing device 810 may be able to communicate over the network 850with server systems that are designated for the application program. Forexample, a VoIP application program may be downloaded from theApplication Store 866, enabling the user to communicate with the VoIPservice 864.

The mobile computing device 810 may access content on the internet 868through network 850. For example, a user of the mobile computing device810 may invoke a web browser application that requests data from remotecomputing devices that are accessible at designated universal resourcelocations. In various examples, some of the services 860 are accessibleover the internet.

The mobile computing device may communicate with a personal computer870. For example, the personal computer 870 may be the home computer fora user of the mobile computing device 810. Thus, the user may be able tostream media from his personal computer 870. The user may also view thefile structure of his personal computer 870, and transmit selecteddocuments between the computerized devices.

The mobile computing device 810 may communicate with a social network874. The social network may include numerous members, some of which haveagreed to be related as acquaintances. Application programs on themobile computing device 810 may access the social network 874 toretrieve information based on the acquaintances of the user of themobile computing device. For example, an “address book” applicationprogram may retrieve telephone numbers for the user's acquaintances. Invarious examples, content may be delivered to the mobile computingdevice 810 based on social network distances from the user to othermembers in a social network graph of members and connectingrelationships. For example, advertisement and news article content maybe selected for the user based on a level of interaction with suchcontent by members that are “close” to the user (e.g., members that are“friends” or “friends of friends”).

The mobile computing device 810 may access a personal set of contacts876 through network 850. Each contact may identify an individual andinclude information about that individual (e.g., a phone number, anemail address, and a birthday). Because the set of contacts is hostedremotely to the mobile computing device 810, the user may access andmaintain the contacts 876 across several devices as a common set ofcontacts.

The mobile computing device 810 may access cloud-based applicationprograms 878. Cloud-computing provides application programs (e.g., aword processor or an email program) that are hosted remotely from themobile computing device 810, and may be accessed by the device 810 usinga web browser or a dedicated program.

Mapping service 880 can provide the mobile computing device 810 withstreet maps, route planning information, and satellite images. Themapping service 880 may also receive queries and returnlocation-specific results. For example, the mobile computing device 810may send an estimated location of the mobile computing device and auser-entered query for “pizza places” to the mapping service 880. Themapping service 880 may return a street map with “markers” superimposedon the map that identify geographical locations of nearby “pizzaplaces.”

Turn-by-turn service 882 may provide the mobile computing device 810with turn-by-turn directions to a user-supplied destination. Forexample, the turn-by-turn service 882 may stream to device 810 astreet-level view of an estimated location of the device, along withdata for providing audio commands and superimposing arrows that direct auser of the device 810 to the destination.

Various forms of streaming media 884 may be requested by the mobilecomputing device 810. For example, computing device 810 may request astream for a pre-recorded video file, a live television program, or alive radio program.

A micro-blogging service 886 may receive from the mobile computingdevice 810 a user-input post that does not identify recipients of thepost. The micro-blogging service 886 may disseminate the post to othermembers of the micro-blogging service 886 that agreed to subscribe tothe user.

A search engine 888 may receive user-entered textual or verbal queriesfrom the mobile computing device 810, determine a set ofinternet-accessible documents that are responsive to the query, andprovide to the device 810 information to display a list of searchresults for the responsive documents. In examples where a verbal queryis received, the voice recognition service 872 may translate thereceived audio into a textual query that is sent to the search engine.

These and other services may be implemented in a server system 890. Aserver system may be a combination of hardware and software thatprovides a service or a set of services. For example, a set ofphysically separate and networked computerized devices may operatetogether as a logical server system unit to handle the operationsnecessary to offer a service to hundreds of computing devices. A serversystem is also referred to herein as a computing system.

In various implementations, operations that are performed “in responseto” or “as a consequence of” another operation (e.g., a determination oran identification) are not performed if the prior operation isunsuccessful (e.g., if the determination was not performed). Operationsthat are performed “automatically” are operations that are performedwithout user intervention (e.g., intervening user input). Features inthis document that are described with conditional language may describeimplementations that are optional. In some examples, “transmitting” froma first device to a second device includes the first device placing datainto a network for receipt by the second device, but may not include thesecond device receiving the data. Conversely, “receiving” from a firstdevice may include receiving the data from a network, but may notinclude the first device transmitting the data.

“Determining” by a computing system can include the computing systemrequesting that another device perform the determination and supply theresults to the computing system. Moreover, “displaying” or “presenting”by a computing system can include the computing system sending data forcausing another device to display or present the referenced information.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the operations described in thisspecification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structuresdisclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or incombinations of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matterdescribed in this specification can be implemented as one or morecomputer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer programinstructions, encoded on computer storage medium for execution by, or tocontrol the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or inaddition, the program instructions can be encoded on anartificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generatedelectrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated toencode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus forexecution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium canbe, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, acomputer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memoryarray or device, or a combination of one or more of them. Moreover,while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computerstorage medium can be a source or destination of computer programinstructions encoded in an artificially-generated propagated signal. Thecomputer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or moreseparate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, orother storage devices).

The operations described in this specification can be implemented asoperations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored onone or more computer-readable storage devices or received from othersources.

The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all kinds of apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multipleones, or combinations, of the foregoing The apparatus can includespecial purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gatearray) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Theapparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, code that createsan execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g.,code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtimeenvironment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more of them.The apparatus and execution environment can realize various differentcomputing model infrastructures, such as web services, distributedcomputing and grid computing infrastructures.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform actions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer canbe embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console,a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device(e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive), to name just a few.Devices suitable for storing computer program instructions and datainclude all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM,EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal harddisks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROMdisks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's user device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., auser computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser throughwhich a user can interact with an implementation of the subject matterdescribed in this specification, or any combination of one or more suchback-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of thesystem can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital datacommunication, e.g., a communication network. Examples of communicationnetworks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a wide area network(“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), and peer-to-peernetworks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

The computing system can include users and servers. A user and serverare generally remote from each other and typically interact through acommunication network. The relationship of user and server arises byvirtue of computer programs running on the respective computers andhaving a user-server relationship to each other. In some embodiments, aserver transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a user device (e.g., forpurposes of displaying data to and receiving user input from a userinteracting with the user device). Data generated at the user device(e.g., a result of the user interaction) can be received from the userdevice at the server.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method performed by one ormore processors, the method comprising: receiving a first inputcomprising a plurality of terms; determining that one or more of theterms in the first input specify an item that belongs to a remindercategory, the reminder category being associated with a collection ofitems that belong to the reminder category and for which reminders canbe generated; and prior to receiving additional user input: accessing,based on the one or more terms in the first input determined to specifythe item that belongs to the reminder category, one or more databasesthat include data corresponding to at least the item, wherein at leastsome of the data is provided by a third party; determining that one ormore additional terms in the first input are associated with one or moreconditions for delivery of a reminder notification corresponding to theitem; determining, based on determining that the one or more additionalterms in the first input are associated with the one or more conditionsand based on accessing the one or more databases, a plurality oftriggering events associated with the item; selecting, based on thedetermined plurality of triggering events and the one or moreconditions, one or more reminder types; storing, in response to theselecting, associations between each of the one or more reminder typesand the item; and subsequent to storing associations between each of theone or more reminder types and the item and determining the plurality oftriggering events associated with the item: determining that atriggering event, of the determined triggering events, is occurring;providing, in response to determining the triggering event is occurringand to a computing device associated with the user, at least one audioor visual reminder notification generated based on the one or more termsin the first input and at least one of the reminder types associatedwith the item.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinstoring associations between each of the one or more reminder types andthe item comprises: generating at least one reminder entry for eachreminder type associated with the item; storing the at least onegenerated reminder entry in one or more databases; and associating,based on at least one triggering event associated with item, the atleast one generated reminder entry with at least one reminder category.3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the at least onereminder category associated with the at least one generated reminderentry is a different reminder category than the reminder category towhich the item belongs.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,wherein the at least one reminder category is associated with the atleast one generated reminder entry further based on the reminder type.5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:receiving a second input comprising a plurality of terms; determiningthat one or more of the terms in the second input specify an action toprocess an item list that belongs to the at least one reminder category,the item list being a collection of one or more items associated withrelated a reminder type; and providing data that causes the computingdevice of the user to present the item list of one or more items.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein: determining that one ormore of the terms in the second input specify an action to process anitem list that belongs to the reminder category comprises determiningthat parsed terms of the second input specify a first reminder type; andproviding data that causes the user device to present the item list ofone or more items comprises providing data that causes the user deviceto present the item list of one or more items where each of the one ormore items is associated with the first reminder type.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein: determining that one ormore of the terms in the second input specify an action to process anitem list that belongs to the reminder category comprises determiningthat parsed terms of the second input specify a second reminder type;and providing data that causes the user device to present the item listof one or more items comprises providing data that causes the userdevice to present the item list of one or more items where each of theone or more items is not associated with the second reminder type.
 8. Asystem, comprising: a processor; and a computer-readable medium coupledto the processor and having instructions stored thereon, which, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the processor to perform operationscomprising: receiving a first input comprising a plurality of terms;determining that one or more of the terms in the first input specify anitem that belongs to a reminder category, the reminder category beingassociated with a collection of items that belong to the remindercategory and for which reminders can be generated; and prior toreceiving additional user input: accessing, based on the one or moreterms in the first input determined to specify the item that belongs tothe reminder category, one or more databases that include datacorresponding to at least the item, wherein at least some of the data isprovided by a third party; determining that one or more additional termsin the first input are associated with one or more conditions fordelivery of a reminder notification corresponding to the item;determining, based on determining that the one or more additional termsin the first input are associated with the one or more conditions andbased on accessing the one or more databases, a plurality of triggeringevents associated with the item; selecting, based on the determinedplurality of triggering events and the one or more conditions, one ormore reminder types; storing, in response to the selecting, associationsbetween each of the one or more reminder types and the item; andsubsequent to storing associations between each of the one or morereminder types and the item and determining the plurality of triggeringevents associated with the item: determining that a triggering event, ofthe determined triggering events, is occurring; providing, in responseto determining the triggering event is occurring and to a computingdevice associated with the user, at least one audio or visual remindernotification generated based on the one or more terms in the first inputand at least one of the reminder types associated with the item.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein storing associations between each of the oneor more reminder types and the item comprises: generating at least onereminder entry for each reminder type associated with the item; storingthe at least one generated reminder entry in one or more databases; andassociating, based on at least one triggering event associated withitem, the at least one generated reminder entry with at least onereminder category.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least onereminder category associated with the at least one generated reminderentry is a different reminder category than the reminder category towhich the item belongs.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at leastone reminder category is associated with the at least one generatedreminder entry further based on the reminder type.
 12. The system ofclaim 9, the operations further comprising: receiving a second inputcomprising a plurality of terms; determining that one or more of theterms in the second input specify an action to process an item list thatbelongs to the at least one reminder category, the item list being acollection of one or more items associated with related a reminder type;and providing data that causes the computing device of the user topresent the item list of one or more items.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein: determining that one or more of the terms in the second inputspecify an action to process an item list that belongs to the remindercategory comprises determining that parsed terms of the second inputspecify a first reminder type; and providing data that causes the userdevice to present the item list of one or more items comprises providingdata that causes the user device to present the item list of one or moreitems where each of the one or more items is associated with the firstreminder type.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein: determining that oneor more of the terms in the second input specify an action to process anitem list that belongs to the reminder category comprises determiningthat parsed terms of the second input specify a second reminder type;and providing data that causes the user device to present the item listof one or more items comprises providing data that causes the userdevice to present the item list of one or more items where each of theone or more items is not associated with the second reminder type.
 15. Acomputer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations,comprising: receiving a first input comprising a plurality of terms;determining that one or more of the terms in the first input specify anitem that belongs to a reminder category, the reminder category beingassociated with a collection of items that belong to the remindercategory and for which reminders can be generated; and prior toreceiving additional user input: accessing, based on the one or moreterms in the first input determined to specify the item that belongs tothe reminder category, one or more databases that include datacorresponding to at least the item, wherein at least some of the data isprovided by a third party; determining that one or more additional termsin the first input are associated with one or more conditions fordelivery of a reminder notification corresponding to the item;determining, based on determining that the one or more additional termsin the first input are associated with the one or more conditions andbased on accessing the one or more databases, a plurality of triggeringevents associated with the item; selecting, based on the determinedplurality of triggering events and the one or more conditions, one ormore reminder types; storing, in response to the selecting, associationsbetween each of the one or more reminder types and the item; andsubsequent to storing associations between each of the one or morereminder types and the item and determining the plurality of triggeringevents associated with the item: determining that a triggering event, ofthe determined triggering events, is occurring; providing, in responseto determining the triggering event is occurring and to a computingdevice associated with the user, at least one audio or visual remindernotification generated based on the one or more terms in the first inputand at least one of the reminder types associated with the item.
 16. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein storing associationsbetween each of the one or more reminder types and the item comprises:generating at least one reminder entry for each reminder type associatedwith the item; storing the at least one generated reminder entry in oneor more databases; and associating, based on at least one triggeringevent associated with item, the at least one generated reminder entrywith at least one reminder category.
 17. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 16, wherein the at least one reminder category associated with theat least one generated reminder entry is a different reminder categorythan the reminder category to which the item belongs.
 18. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one remindercategory is associated with the at least one generated reminder entryfurther based on the reminder type.
 19. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 16, the operations further comprising: receiving a second inputcomprising a plurality of terms; determining that one or more of theterms in the second input specify an action to process an item list thatbelongs to the at least one reminder category, the item list being acollection of one or more items associated with related a reminder type;and providing data that causes the computing device of the user topresent the item list of one or more items.
 20. The computer-readablemedium of claim 19, wherein: determining that one or more of the termsin the second input specify an action to process an item list thatbelongs to the reminder category comprises determining that parsed termsof the second input specify a second reminder type; and providing datathat causes the user device to present the item list of one or moreitems comprises providing data that causes the user device to presentthe item list of one or more items where each of the one or more itemsis not associated with the second reminder type.